thistle dawn
threads of pink
braid into daylight

—Joanna Ashwell, UK

children
gathering acorns
the teacher’s heavy hat

—Robert Witmer, Japan

singing bowl
a humpback whale
knows the tune

—Debbie Strange, Canada

bee hives
on temple gopuram
Indian summer

—Neha Singh Soni, India

summer blue
       distant taste
of seawater

—Keiko Izawa,Japan

Greek street –
a bougainvillea moon hangs
from her balcony

—Steliana Cristina Voicu, Romania

summer evening —
a firefly bookmarks
my page

—Martina Matijević, Croatia

rocking in sync
for a long evening talk
strawberry moon

—Randy Brooks, USA

About

Joanna Ashwell is a short-form poetry writer from the UK. She has been honoured in several competitions and was short-listed for a Touchstone individual poem in 2020 and for haibun in 2025. She is widely published in both print and online journals.

Now an emeritus professor, Robert Witmer has taught courses in poetry and short fiction at universities in Tokyo and in India. His writing appears in many print and online journals. He has also published three collections of poetry: Finding a Way; Serendipity; Sunrise, in a Rabbit Hole.

Debbie Strange (Canada) is a chronically ill short-form poet and artist whose creative passions connect her more closely to the world. Her recent collection, “Random Blue Sparks” (Snapshot Press, 2024), placed first in Haiku Canada’s 2026 Marianne Bluger Book Awards and third in the Haiku Society of America’s 2025 Merit Book Awards. Please visit a publications/awards archive at debbiemstrange.blogspot.com for further information.

Neha Singh Soni is a Chartered Accountant from India with a deep love for poetry, especially haiku. She primarily focuses on love poems and nature-inspired verses. Her work has been published in renowned online magazines.

Keiko Izawa lives on a hilltop in Yokohama, Japan with her husband and two cats. She enjoys watching foreign ships come in and out of port.

Steliana Cristina Voicu is a Romanian poet and writer in a variety of genres. She has published haiku, haiga, tanka, poetry, and short prose in more than 40 periodicals and anthologies. A Touchstone Award–nominated poet. She is the founder and editor of the online Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal.

Martina Matijević is a writer from Croatia.

Dr. Randy Brooks is Professor of English Emeritus at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where he teaches courses on haiku, tanka, and Japanese poetics. He and his wife, Shirley Brooks, are publishers of Brooks Books and co-editors of Mayfly haiku magazine. His most recent books include Walking the Fence: Selected Tanka, The Art of Reading and Writing Haiku: A Reader Response Approach, and HAIKU DECK: A collection of playing cards.

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